Feed mechanism

ABSTRACT

The invention disclosed relates to a feed mechanism for bottle closure lining machines and employs a positive feed member resiliently supported by an oscillating carrier to effect advance of a closure towards the lining chuck. The invention enables much higher throughput rates to be achieved when lining closures with, for example, centrifugally distributed plastisol compositions. Preferably the feed member consists of a pair of laterally spaced closure striking pins.

United States Patent Flury Jan. 1,1974

[ FEED MECHANISM [76] Inventor: Edwin Flury, 15 Heatherley Dr.,

Clayhall, England [22] Filed: Dec. 22, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 211,013

smegma 25 Primary ExaminerRichard E. Aegerter Attorney-G. E. Parker eta1.

[57] ABSTRACT The invention disclosed relates to a feed mechanism forbottle closure lining machines and employs a positive feed memberresiliently supported by an oscillating carrier to effect advance of aclosure towards the lining chuck. The invention enables much higherthroughput rates to be achieved when lining closures with, for example,centrifugally distributed plastisol compositions. Preferably the feedmember consists of a pair of laterally spaced closure striking pins.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEUJAN 11914 1 sum a 0F 3 FEEDMECHANISM This invention relates to feed mechanisms, and moreparticularly to am improved form of feed mechanism for advancingcontainer closures such as bottle caps to a lining station at which asealing liner will be applied to the inside of the caps.

Hitherto, in machines for lining the insides of container closures suchas bottle caps, it has been customary for the closures to be allowed tofall down a delivery chute to arrive at an intermittently rotatingindexing carrier which advances the closure to a position in registerwith the lining gun. However, such an arrangement has the disadvantagethat merely allowing the closures to fall down a supply chute to arriveat the indexing carrier leaves it possible for the closures to becomejammed due to only partial loading of a closure in the indexing carrier.

According to the present invention we provide a feed mechanism for acontainer closure lining machine, such feed mechanism incorporating awork table along which closures are to be fed, and closure drive meansextending upwardly from below the work table and resiliently carried byan oscillating drive member. Such a feed mechanism may with advantage beused in conjunction with the conventional indexing carrier mentionedabove.

Preferably the drive means may comprise at least two pins symmetricallylaterally spaced with respect to the line of intended closure advancesand resiliently carried by an oscillating support plate. Conveniently,said pins may be carried through the agency of coil springs which, uponresistance to movement of the upper ends of the associated pins, undergolongitudinal bending deformation.

Due to the mounting of the pins on a crank member, the movement of theupper end of each pin may suitably follow a closed path and the heightof the pins be arranged such that the top part of each pin advancesalong a path portion above the work table and descends below the worktable during the return stroke back to the start position for the nextadvancing phase, so the pin will not impact the next closure awaitingdelivery.

The mechanism advantageously incorporates a stop member arranged toarrest the train of closures issuing from the feed chute so that theleading closure of the train is positioned ready for position indexingby means of the closure drive means. As the pins advance they cause theclosure to move along the work table into the correct position withrelation to the indexing member. The stop member may be resilientlybiased upwardly whereby movement of the closure being fed causes theclosure to depress the stop member and to ride over the depressed stopmember during feed movement to the position of register with theindexing member. Desirably the stop member may comprise an upwardlyprojecting tooth at the free end of a substantially horizontal leverwhich is biased for movement in a direction tending to raise the toothinto a closure arresting position.

Suitably, means may be provided for adjusting the longitudinalpositioning of the pins in relation to the oscillating drive member tovary the limits of the path of movement of the pins. More suitablywherea pair of synchronously moving laterally spaced pins is employed theymay be adjustable towards and away from one another.

Advantageously the oscillating drive member may include a support platemounted on a crank arm, one end of the crank arm being slidinglyreceived within a pivotally mounted block, and the other end of thecrank arm being drivably connected to an eccentric member.

Conveniently the crank arm may be driven from a linking shaft arrangedto drive several closure feed mechanisms simultaneously.

Means may also be provided for adjusting the throw of the crank arm byadjusting the eccentricity of the pivotal connection on the crank withrelation to the linking drive shaft.

In order that the present invention may more readily be understood thefollowing description is given, merely by way of example, referencebeing made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a single feed mechanism showing theposition of two successive closures being fed by the mechanism; and

FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing two adjacent separate feed mechanismslinked by a common drive shaft.

FIG. 3 is a partly sectioned'side elevational view of theclosure-engaging pin assembly.

FIG. 4 is a partly sectioned side elevational view of j a stop member tobe positioned at the end of a closure feed chute.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a work table 1 along which asuccession of closures 2a, 2b etc. is advanced from the bottom of aguide chute 3. The left-hand closure 2a has arrived in register with anindexing turret 4 disposed below a top cover 5 which, to gether with thework table 1, defines a passage along which the closures are fed.

Three separate positions of feed pins 6 during a feed stroke are shownat 6a, 6b and 60, respectively.

As broadly shown in FIG. 1 and with more detail in FIG. 4, asubstantially horizontal lever 7 has a transversely extending stopfinger 8 mounted at its free end and is pivoted at its other end to asupport spindle 9. A leaf spring 10 secured to the underside of the worktable engages the free end of the lever 7 to urge the stop finger 8upwardly into the position shown in FIG. 1. Thus, as each closure ismoved from the 2b position to the Zn position, the train of closures inthe guide chute 3 advances by one closure so that the leading closure ofthe train arrives in engagement with the stop finger 8 to be held thereprior to the next positive feed stroke of the pins 6. The spindle 9 issupported at its ends within a bearing housing formed by a pair of lugs11 secured to and extending downwardly from the work table 1.

The stop finger 8 is shaped so that the leading edge, i.e., theright-hand edge as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 4, engages against andarrestingly abuts the leftward edge of the closure while the upper andleftward edges of the finger are inclined so that as the cap arriving atthe 2a position moves off the finger 8 the latter may rise more gentlythan it would if it had a sharp edge which suddenly jumps up once thecap has been removed therefrom.

The cap illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4 has a substantially frusto-conicalskirt which exerts a camming action on the upper edge of the almostvertical right-hand face of the stop finger 8. However, where theclosures being fed have a substantially cylindrical skirt, it may provenecessary to provide an inclined stop face on the finger 8 in order toensure that the cap can exert a camming action to push the finger downas the cap moves thereover.

The pins are each secured to a respective coil spring 12 carried by asupport plate 13 which is secured to a main drive crank 14 by a pair ofscrews 15. An embodiment of such a pin-spring-plate assembly isillustrated by FIG. 3 in which a pin 6 is partly inserted into a coilspring 12 which in turn is partly wedged into a blind hole on supportplate 13. The drive crank 14 has one end freely slidably carried withina block 16 including trunnions l7 pivotally supported by a pair ofupstanding lugs 18 secured to the machine frame 19. As shown in FIG. 2,the support plate 13 carrying the pins extends laterally to one side ofthe operating crank 14.

The other end of the drive crank 14 is integrally formed with the outerhousing 20 of a bearing assembly the inner member 21 of which is keyedat 22 to a linking drive shaft 23 positioned eccentrically of the innerroller member 21. Thus, upon rotation of the drive shaft 23, the innermember 21 will orbit about the axis of the shaft 23 and will thus causethe centre of the outer housing 20 to execute a similar orbiting actionwhile the housing 20 itself is constrained against completely freerotation by its connection to the drive crank 14.

The inner member 21 has a pair of thrust washers 24 secured thereto, forexample by suitably located screws (not shown), in order to limit endfloat.

The eccentricity of the roller 21 will usually be fixed but bysubstitution of a differently shaped roller it will be possible toeffect a different throw for the crank 14.

From the above description, and the illustration of FIG. 1, it can beseen that upon rotation of the shaft 23 through 180 degress in theanti-clockwise direction from the FIG. 1 position, the pins 6 will moverightwardly from the 60 position and during the first 90 of shaftmovement the pins will be descending. During the second 90 of shaftmovement the pins will still be moving rightwardly and as they approachthe 6a position their rightward movement will become slower and theywill begin to rise. The dotted line 25 showing the path of movement ofthe tip of one of the pins indicates that the pins do not execute a trueelliptical motion but instead follow a closed path arranged so thatduring the greater part of their retraction movement they are disposedbelow the work table 1 and then during the whole of their advancingmovement they are disposed above the table. The reason for thisdeviation from a true elliptical path is that, as the crank 14 movesrightwardly during the above described l80 of anticlockwise shaftmovement, the pins become closer to the fixed axis of the shaft 23 andfurther from the axis of the trunnions 17 of block 16. Whereas theangular position of the longitudinal axis of drive crank 14 will executea simple harmonic motion aout the axis of trunnions 17 and the pins 6will also execute a simple harmonic motion in their movement along thislongitudinal axis towards and away from the axis of the trunnions 17,the combination of these two movements will be such as to provide theillustrated closed path 25 having one sharp end and one blunt end.

The left-hand part of FIG. 2 shows one feed mechanism in associationwith a first indexing member of the cap lining machine, and theright-hand part of the figure shows a second feed mechanism associatedwith a second indexing member the two parts of the machine and indexingmembers being synchronised to allow alternate sides of the machine tofeed caps to respective lining stations. The left-hand part of themachine is shown with the pins 6 in the retracted position whereas theright-hand part of the machine shows the simultaneous configuration inwhich the pins are in the advanced position. This alternating action ofthe two feed mechanisms provides for a much more smoothly balanced andhence quieter operation of the machine.

At the left-hand end of the machine the drive crank 14 has its pivotedend drilled to receive a journal bearing bush 27 receiving a journal pin28 having a square head 29. The end of the pin 28 oppposite the squarehead is engageable within an eccentric aperture 30 of a disc 31 mountedat the left-hand of the linking drive shaft 23 and is locked in positionby a grub screw (not shown). The shaft 23 is shown in FIG. 2 as beingsupported by three spaced anti-friction bearings 32, 33 and 34, andfurther additional bearings may be provided to the right of the bearings34, if required.

Although not shown in FIG. 2 the pins 6 are adjustable towards and awayfrom one another to accommodate different sized caps therebetween.Clearly, the optimum positioning of the pins with relation to the capwill be such that the two transversely spaced pins engage the cap insuch a way that they subtend an angle of approximately 90 at the centreof the cap and are disposed symmetrically about the cap diameter whichis parallel to the direction of advance. This will mean that the spacingbetween the pegs will be approximately percent (i.e., k 2) of the capdiameter and can be adjusted to suit the varying cap sizes. Clearly, ifthe size of cap to be fed is increased then, once the pins 6 have beencorrectly spaced to accommodate the larger cap it may be necessarysubsequently to adjust the position of the pin supporting plate 13longitudinally of the drive crank 14. This will have the effect ofshifting the extreme ends of the closed pin tip path 25 and also ofincreasing or decreasing the vertical travel of the pin tips duringtheir motion. Thus the path 25 will be either made fatter or thinnerdepending on whether the pins are moved away from or towards the axis ofthe trunnions 17. The pin tip path adjustment is achieved by slackeningthe bolts 15 and sliding the plates longitudinally of the crank withinthe limits defined by the slots 35 shown in FIG. 2. In this way the pathof the pins 6 longitudinally of the pairs of slots 37 in the work table1 can be adjusted to ensure that the spacing between the pair of pinsand the stop finger 8 in the starting position 611 of the pins 6 iscorrect in relation to the diameter of the cap. Naturally, if the pins 6were too close to the stop finger 8 the pins would be unable to engagebehind the cap to urge the cap forwardly.

Although the particular embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 employsfeed pins which are mounted on coil springs so that the resilience ofthe feed pins is derived solely from bending formation in the coilsprings 12, any other suitable resilient form of mounting for the pinsis envisaged as lying within the scope of the invention. For example,the pins could be mounted on leaf springs which are secured to the plate13.

FIG. 1 shows that the right-hand end of the drive crank of FIG. 2 isconstructed in two parts, a first 14a of which is integral with theouter bearing housing 20 and a second 14b is in the form of a rod whichis slidingly received within the trunnioned block 16. A screw 38 shownin FIG. 1 but omitted from FIG. 2 engages the front end of the rodportion 14b to secure the two portions of the crank together. Thedifference in details between the eccentric systems of the two drivecranks 14 arises for two reasons. Firstly it is necessary for thelinking drive shaft 23 to extend rightwardly to a chaindrive sprocketsupplying driving torque from the main drive of the cap lining machine;the chain and sprocket transmission to the drive shaft 23 may of coursebe replaced by any other suitable transmission which ensures accuratesynchronisation between the shaft 23 and the main drive shaft of the caplining machine. Secondly, the particular arrangement employed enablesthe machine to be readily dismantled and re-assembled either formaintenance or for substitution of a different eccentric inner rollermember 21 whose eccentricity may be different in order to achieve adifferent throw for the crank 14. For example, whereas the left-handdrive crank maybe removed simply by unscrewing the journal pin 28 andthen sliding the crank 14 out from the trunnioned block 16, dismantlingof the right-hand drive crank is effected by removing the screw 38, sliding the rod portion 14b leftwardly as viewed in FIG. 1 to remove it fromthe other crank portion 14a and then releasing the drive shaft 23 fromits hearings to be lifted vertically out of the machine.

The provision of spring-loaded feed pins 6 ensures that both the drivecrank mechanism and the caps are spared the high loads to which theywould otherwise be subjected if a closure were to jam on a machineemploying a completely rigid connection of the pins 6 and shaft 23. Ifjamming occurs in the machine illustrated in FIGs. l and 2, the springloaded pins 6 can still execute their feed movement but the caps will beretained stationary and the lack of caps delivered from the lining headwill draw the operators attention to the existence of a stoppage.Naturally, any suitable form of automatic signalling system may beprovided in order to warn the operator of such a stoppage.

The value of the maximum dirving force to be imparted on the cap by thespring-loaded pins may need to be varied in which case the springs 12may be replaced by other springs of a stronger rate. Thus the feedingforce can be adjusted to ensure positive feed without undue damage toeither the cap or the mechamsm.

The pin mounting mechanism may be varied, for example by providing thepins 6 in the form of plungers which are spring-urged in an upwarddirection and mounted within sleeves which are themselves secured in amanner similar to that of the pins 6 in the apparatus illustrated. Withthis arrangement the pins are resiliently urged axially of their length,so that they can retract should the caps be fed to the chute 3intermittently thus preventing jamming of the machine and damage to thecaps.

The advantages of the feed mechanism of the present invention includesthe following:

1. The use of a positive drive to forward the caps into the indexingcarrier turret 4 enables a much higher speed of operation to be achievedsince the loading of caps into the indexing turret no longer dependsupon the gravitational force acting on a train of caps in the verticallydisposed chute 3. Thus employing a feed mechanism of this sort enables amore rapid and positive engagement of the leading cap with the turret.

2. By providing an arrangement in which the cap feeding pins engage theoutside of the caps rather than the inside, it has been ensured that nodamage will be sustained by the delicate inner surface of the cap whichin most cases has been previously lacquered in order both to impovebonding of the plastisol composition to the metal of the cap and toprevent corrosion of the metal of the cap. Damage to this enamel liningwould otherwise lead to subsequent corrosion.

3. The use of pins driven from below enables the top of the machine tobe free of any mechanisms which would otherwise hinder removal of ajammed closure. With the present system, the top cover 5 over the worktable may simply be pivoted away in order to expose the whole of thework table, the indexing mechanism and the row of closures thereon.

4. By providing two separate pins moving along a feed path in laterallyspaced configuration, it is ensured that the cap can be centralisedduring feeding. Besides the pins 6 can, as explained above, be adjustedfor accommodating caps of different diameters.

5. The provision of pins engaging the outside of the cap ensures thatthe pins contact the cap at or near the boundary between the disc liketop of the cap and the skirt, thereby ensuring that the driving forceexerted on the cap is absorbed at the strongest point of the cap. Sincethe pins 6 engage the outside of the cap while the cap rests mounted onthe work table, the drive mechanism itself will require no adjustment toaccommodate caps of dif ferent heights. However, the clearance betweenthe top cover 5 and the work table 1 may require adjustment.

We claim:

1. A feed mechanism for a container closure lining machine, suchmechanism incorporating: a work table along which the closures are topass; closure drive means extending upwardly from below the work tablecomprising at least two pins symmetrically laterally spaced with respectto means defining a path of closure advance; an oscillatable drivemember; means resiliently mounting said drive means on the drive member;a feed chute down which a train of closures passes onto the work table;a stop member arranged to arrest the train of closures issuing from thefeed chute, with the leading closure of said train being positionedready for indexing by the drive means; and means for driving said drivemember in oscillatory motion.

2. A feed mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said means resilientlymounting the pins comprise coil springs supporting said pins which arecapable, upon resistance to movement of the upper ends of the associatedpins, to undergo longitudinal bending deformation.

3. A feed mechanism according to claim 2, wherein a further coil springis provided for each pin, to accommodate axial retracting movement ofthe pin.

4. A mechanism according to claim ll, wherein said stop member isresiliently biased upwardly whereby feed movement of the closure beingdriven by the closure drive causes the closure to depress the stopmember and drive means ride over the depressed stop member during feedmovement.

5. A mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said stop member comprisesa substantially horizontal lever, an upwardly projecting tooth at thefree end of said lever and means biasing said lever for movement in adirection tending to raise the tooth.

* t i l

1. A feed mechanism for a container closure lining machine, suchmechanism incorporating: a work table along which the closures are topass; closure drive means extending upwaRdly from below the work tablecomprising at least two pins symmetrically laterally spaced with respectto means defining a path of closure advance; an oscillatable drivemember; means resiliently mounting said drive means on the drive member;a feed chute down which a train of closures passes onto the work table;a stop member arranged to arrest the train of closures issuing from thefeed chute, with the leading closure of said train being positionedready for indexing by the drive means; and means for driving said drivemember in oscillatory motion.
 2. A feed mechanism according to claim 1,wherein said means resiliently mounting the pins comprise coil springssupporting said pins which are capable, upon resistance to movement ofthe upper ends of the associated pins, to undergo longitudinal bendingdeformation.
 3. A feed mechanism according to claim 2, wherein a furthercoil spring is provided for each pin, to accommodate axial retractingmovement of the pin.
 4. A mechanism according to claim 1, wherein saidstop member is resiliently biased upwardly whereby feed movement of theclosure being driven by the closure drive causes the closure to depressthe stop member and drive means ride over the depressed stop memberduring feed movement.
 5. A mechanism according to claim 1, wherein saidstop member comprises a substantially horizontal lever, an upwardlyprojecting tooth at the free end of said lever and means biasing saidlever for movement in a direction tending to raise the tooth.